No Place Quite Like Home
by TwilightOfTheHeart
Summary: Takes place right at the end of KH2, upon the opening of Mickey's letter. I'm bad at summaries, plus this is my first fan fic ever. Probably just going to be a oneshot. Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters. Darn it.


**This is my first fan fic; I hope it doesn't totally suck.**

**It's probably going to be just a one-shot. Okay, here goes...**

Sora looked at Riku, then at Kairi, and back to the letter in his hands, "What do you think the King means?" Kairi looked at him and shook her head, "I don't know." They both looked toward Riku, who seemed to be reading it over again. They waited for him to finish, but after a while they noticed he kept starting over. "Riku?"

He looked up, "The King likes to speak in riddles. There's no way to tell until we know." He leaned against the paopu tree with his hand on his chin as he looked off into the sea.

Sora folded the letter and put it in his pocket. "Well, there's no use dwelling on it now. I'm just glad I finally found you."

Kairi interjected, "Let's celebrate! We're all home! Together."

"What do you suggest we do?" Riku still stared into the sea.

Sora smiled, "Something to commemorate old times?"

Kairi smirked and walked next to Riku, "Cheer up! Stop brooding!" She pulled on his shoulder so he wouldn't be leaning against the paopu tree and as he was getting his footing, she pushed him into the water.

Spash! He came up gasping for breath and laughing. "My clothes were just drying from the last time I fell in the ocean!"

Kairi doubled over laughing, so she didn't notice Sora removing the contents of his pockets and outerclothing. "Aw, lil Rikku dwoesn't wike to be wet!" She screeched as he splashed her, "No, my haaaaaaaaaaair!" She screamed as Sora grabbed her hand and jumped in the water.

She came up blinking furiously meeting the laughter of her two best friends.

The next few hours were spent in the ocean, tales told between the reunited friends in between games.

As the three friends drudged out of the water toward dry land, Sora and Riku shirtless, they just seemed to realize how much Kairi had changed through water soaked clothes. "It really has been a long time…" Riku spoke somberly. They sat side by side on the dock, Sora in the middle, watching the sun set while they let the cool breeze dry them.

"Say Kairi," Sora broke the silence. "What happened…to our parents?"

"I see your mom every once in a while at the mall, she's doing okay. She still cries, but she never gave up hope that you'd return. The same with your father, I can see he's sad although he never cries in public. I think he wants to be strong for your mom. I'm sure you both will have a lot of explaining to do when you return..."

Sora smiled, "I can't wait to see her, and dad too. I miss when he'd proclaim it father-son day and take me out wherever, just the two of us."

Riku looked towards Kairi, "Have you seen either of my parents recently?"

Kairi looked at her feet. "Um, after you left, they…split up. Your dad, I think I heard somewhere that he took off; left town. I don't know where he is. Your mom still works at the factory, I think."

Riku scoffed, "I knew we were the only thing keeping them together."

Riku never told anyone, not even his best friends of the late nights he heard his mother crying; a slam of the front door, the smell of cheap perfume drifting to the top of the steps where he hid. Then came the drunken footsteps followed by drunken screams. His mother's a whisper.

"_Stephen, you need to stop doing this. You have a family now. Riku needs a role model, Reina needs her daddy!"_

_"I've… always done… what I… wanted, I'm not…stopping now."_

_"Please…"_

"_DAMN IT WOMAN! I'm tellin' you what I tell you ev'ry night. SHUT THE HELL UP. I 'ave…a bludy ed'ache…"_

"_I can't take this anymore! Our kids deserve better…"_

"_And tha's why you'll…stay…you can't take…care of …them alone…"_

_That's usually when he would pass out, and Riku would tiptoe into Reina's room. She was usually crying in a corner. He would pick her up and carry her into bed, where he would kiss her softly on the head, dry her tears, and hold her hand till she slept. _

"What about Reina?" he whispered.

Kairi looked at Riku, "She's a freshman this year, I try to talk to her if I ever see her in the halls; but she doesn't say much. She's gotten to be quite anti-social. I worry about her. After you left, she changed…I can tell she misses you so much."

"Riku," Sora's eyes had caught sight of his left wrist, the one that was bandaged. The bandage must have slipped off in the water. Kairi followed Sora's eyes, and hers widened.

Riku sat unmoving, staring into the sea. "I had to give up my body; to obtain the form of complete darkness." That was all he said. Sora's eyes brimmed with tears, "Y-you did that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you. You're my best buddy after all."

He turned to Sora as his serious expression turned into a creepy smirk, "You know what's coming!"

Sora's eyes widened, "No, not tha…!" His words were interrupted as Riku pulled him onto his lap and put his hand on the top of his head and tickled his stomach with his other hand. "Noogie!"

"Riku…No…hahaha ouch…hahahaha!"

When Sora pulled free, he had drool on his chin and fits of giggles remained on all three of the friends' lips.

"What are you guys gonna tell your folks?" Kairi asked.

"The truth?" Sora offered.

Riku spoke, "They'd never believe us. And even if they did, it would only give them a great deal of worrying."

"So what do you suggest we tell them?" Sora pouted.

Riku frowned. "Something…believable. We were making a raft at the time. I guess we can say that we had an adventure in a far off land." He smiled.

"So, what do you say we go home?" Sora smiled.

Riku stood up, "I'd say, I've never wanted home so badly."

They all piled into Kairi's boat, but it was only supposed to carry one or two people. So, they had to take turns, two in the boat, one swimming alongside it all the way back to the mainland. But nothing felt so good for either of the boys, for their bodies to be so strenuously in motion towards the people that they until very recently, never dreamed of seeing again.

They climbed onto shore, the sun already gone, and the moon shining blue unto their faces. While Kairi had shared the boat with Sora, she let him know his parents still lived in the same home, and the last time she saw, they had left his room the exact way he had left it. This brought a smile to his face, and left a dreamy look in his eyes.

While she shared the boat with Riku, she had to tell him that she did not know where his mother and sister lived now. He said nothing, but they both knew Sora wouldn't mind if he stayed with him until they could locate his family. They parted at the main street where Sora and Riku had to make their way separate from Kairi. With the promises of meeting the next day, they hugged and went on their way.

Sora and Riku quietly made along through the dark alley, knowing it was well after the town's curfew. It was around 11:00 at night, and most of the houses lights were off. On the house on the street's corner, the sweet little two story Victorian, lights shown through curtains of the living room. Sora noted that the tire swing still hung on the old oak in the front yard; he gave it a glance and a longing smile. They snuck up behind the bushes in front of the living room window and peered in through an opening of the curtain on the side.

Sora's father sat on the couch drinking a cup of tea and reading a book. His mother sat facing him reading her own book, but they paid each other no attention. Sora's eyes welled up and he sprinted toward the front door. Riku wanted to give them their moment, so he stayed in the shadows.

Sora was about to ring the doorbell when he suddenly became self-conscious. He wiped the dirt off his face, ran his fingers through his hair, and smoothed out his clothes. He let his finger linger near the button for a moment before pressing it. Riku looked back in the window just as Sora's father left his view. He heard the door open, a few seconds past before a sound was heard other than the crickets.

"S-Son? Is that…?"

"Dad! I'm home!"

His father fell to his knees and embraced his son's waist.

Riku saw Mrs. Yamada's head perk up at a familiar voice. It took a few moments for her to register what was going on. Mr. Yamada's tearful voice snapped her back to reality,

"Sophie! He came back! After all this time! He finally came back!"

She ran as fast as her bathrobe and flip-flops would take her, where she joined her husband and son on her knees. "Sora! Oh my baby! My baby, I knew you were okay, I knew it!"

Riku smiled sadly as he listened to Sora's parents crying and repeating of the words, "My baby", and "My son". He listened to the sound of his best friend holding back tears, and they stayed there, for what seemed an eternity, but just a moment to the parents whose only child had disappeared that fateful stormy night.

As the Yamada's took their place on their feet, each holding their child's hand, they cried and led him into the house. Sora stopped them, "Mom, dad? Oh, it feels great to say that again!" They smiled. "You remember Riku, right?" He stepped forward out of the shadows.

They spent half the night sipping cocoa, Sora's parents sat next to each other on the couch. He had his head in his mother's lap while she pet his hair as if he were a cat. His father's hand was around his mother's shoulder. They all wore content smiles and their faces glowed.

Riku watched from his perch next to the fireplace. Sora's parents couldn't stop talking, "My Sora, you've grown!" "The girls are gonna go crazy for you now!" From the fireplace perch, Riku spoke up for the first time, "Don't you wonder where he's been all this time?"

The two parents looked at each other. "Of course. We're just so excited to finally have our little baby back that I guess it can wait for tomorrow." Said Mrs. Yamada.

"Mom! I always tell you, I'm not a baby anymore!" Sora whined.

Riku smirked and his eyes flickered under his bangs. This scene was all too endearing, all too what a home was like.

Sora quit his whining to let out a roar of a yawn. His father kissed his mother's cheek as Sora smacked his lips and blinked sleepily. Mr. Yamada stood up and attempted to lift Sora to take him to his bed, in his room that remained unchanged. Sora struggled, "Dad, I can walk myself! I'm not a baby!"

His mom chuckled, "You'll always be my baby!" She reached out to pinch his cheeks.

"Aw, mom, not in front of Riku!"

Riku laughed at this; which made Sora struggle harder to get out of his dad's deathgrip. He finally did but hugged his dad as to say, "It's not personal". In Sora's room, they quickly set a bed for Riku on the floor, and kissed and hugged Sora, "It's so good to have you back." "Goodnight boys." They said as they left.

Sora lay in bed, "Remember when we went camping in my backyard? That raccoon snuck in during the night and crawled in your boxer shorts?" He covered his mouth and laughed.

"Oh, dude, don't bring that up!" Riku sighed.

"I can't help it! You woke up screaming, 'Don't you dare touch my…' " Sora was enveloped in laughter which he smothered in his blanket. Riku couldn't help but smile at the memory. Thankfully, the raccoon didn't get to the goods, although he was pretty close. Riku had thrown a terrified half asleep fit in which he managed to wake half the neighborhood with screams of obscenities, and successfully ruin the tent which collapsed on both Sora and Riku with the raccoon still inside. They both went crazy trying to find a way out, screaming at the touch of the furry creature. Salvation came in the form of Sora's father with a flashlight and a calm hand to unzip the zipper.

Riku examined his surroundings in the dark. Something caught his eye in the electrical socket in front of Sora's bed.

"Aw, Sora, that isn't a nighty light is it?" He said in between laughs.

"I don't need that now." He jumped up and unplugged it. Then he grabbed his blanket and lay next to Riku.

"I'm not afraid of the dark anymore."


End file.
